Del., Md. rank as top two in slowest ER response times

According to a study conducted by the healthgrove.com, Delaware and Maryland hospitals are the slowest when it comes to emergency room response times. Delaware ranked as the slowest with Maryland following at number two.

In Maryland, the hospital credited with the slowest response time was Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. As for Delaware, Bayhealth Kent General. We’re told the study looked at medicare data from June 2014 through July 2015.

A spokesperson at Kent General told us today a number of things have been done to improve ER wait times. In February 2015, a new ‘Progressive Care Unit’ was established, adding 32 additional beds.

Also, this summer a new ‘Clinical Decision Unit’ will open. This will be used to take care of patients who aren’t ready to leave the hospital but who also don’t necessarily require hospital admission. Patient flow teams have also been formed to discuss newer ways to help patients move through the entire process of admission to discharge.

A hospital spokesperson tells us that patient satisfaction scores of emergency care have gone up dramatically as compared to a year ago as a result of the initiatives.